Judo’s Greatest KO’s Fight Videos

Putin’ on the Moves: Vladimir Putin sparred with members of the Russian judo team in Sochi last Friday, according to state media. He grappled with several judokas, including one woman, who managed to wrap him up (albeit briefly) in what might be termed a fairly, uh, frisky bout. (He’s a black belt in Judo)

Vladimir Putin firmly believes that martial arts teach such knowledge, abilities and skills that every politician needs. Putin believes that judo trains both your body and your mind. It develops strength, reaction, endurance, teaches self-control, the ability to feel the moment, to see the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, to strive for the best results and constantly work on improving oneself.

Putin has been practicing judo since he was 11 years old. “I was just a boy when I started judo. I became deeply interested in martial arts, their special philosophy, culture, relations with the opponent and the rules of combat,” says Putin, who holds the title of Master of Sports in judo. In September 2006 he became the honorary president of the European Judo Union, and in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate in judo from South Korea’s Yong In university. He also holds a black bet in Karate.

“Judo teaches self-control, the ability to feel the moment, to see the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, to strive for the best results. I am sure you will agree that these are essential abilities and skills for any politician.”

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Judo DoJo

Judo (meaning "gentle way") is a modern martial art, combat and Olympic sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano . Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata,) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice. A judo practitioner is called a judoka.